If anime fans start watching a long-running series, or one inspired by a manga still being published, there's one thing they know for sure: there will be filler episodes. Filler episodes do, as their name implies, fill in the gaps between major storylines. Sometimes, however, the intention of filling in the gaps doesn't go over with fans.
In the case of Naruto, running for hundreds of episodes alongside the publishing of the manga means there is a whole lot of filler. In some cases, dozens of episodes at a time. While some fans might want to skip the episodes that don't seem important to the overall plot, or find the filler episodes boring, not every episode deserves the hate aimed at them. Naruto actually has a lot of really great filler episodes that help to expand the world or spotlight sidelined characters.
10 Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge
Quite a few episodes tease the future relationship of mentor-mentee between Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru Sarutobi. This filler episode is one of them as it places the young shinobi in Naruto's Academy class in charge of younger shinobi teams for a training exercise.
Naruto is the leader of Konohamaru's group, and though he doesn't have all of the answers as he works with them, the team bands together to help their leader. It's also fun to see other young ninja, like Rock Lee, enjoy being sensei for the day.
9 Laughing Shino
When Naruto's anime writers focus on comedy, they excel. Most fans wouldn't expect Shino to appear in one of, arguably, the funniest filler episodes of the series.
Shino and Naruto go on a mission that involves standing in for a man at a relative's funeral. The catch is that the man won't get his inheritance if he laughs during the service, which is why Shino in particular is chosen. Unfortunately, Shino is poisoned on the mission with a substance that leaves him unable to control his laughter, and Naruto is left attending the funeral alone and repeatedly tempted to laugh at the antics of the man's relatives. It's fun for the audience to see another side of Shino, and see Naruto attempt to get serious.
8 Multiple Traps! Countdown To Destruction
A lot of the filler episodes involve Naruto befriending characters the audience never sees again. In this particular instance, however, his new friend is an older man named Gennō that Naruto comes to believe is out to destroy Konoha.
Naruto and his friends face off against Gennō, and the older man eventually loses his life. It's a fruitless battle, however, as it turns out he had no intention of actually destroying the village, but was really just playing a game - creating a scavenger hunt. It's pretty dark, even by Naruto standards, and acts a bit as commentary on the cycle of war and violence present in the series.
7 Run! The Curry Of Life
This episode sees the always interesting filler team-up of Naruto, Neji Hyuga, and Rock Lee. In it, the three are incapacitated during a fight and need a special recipe curry to revive them.
Unfortunately, the curry doesn't work on Neji since he can't tolerate spicy food, so he spends the episode out of commission. It does, however, work really well on Lee - along with the bottle of wine spilled in the curry while it was cooking. It spotlights the rarely seen Drunken Fist fighting style with Lee, giving some screen time to a fan favorite in a unique story.
6 Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi Sensei's True Face
For any fan who wonders what Kakashi Hatake really looks like, this is the episode for them. Since Kakashi always wears a face covering in public, his students start to wonder why. They want to know what's under the covering.
As the episode unfolds, the kids come up with elaborate ways to uncover Kakashi's face as well as speculate about just what's covered up. Kakashi eventually takes pity on them and uncovers his face to reveal another mask underneath, much to his own amusement.
5 Blaze Away, Byakugan! This Is My Ninja Way
One filler arc after Sasuke defects from Konoha involves Naruto teaming up with Hinata, Shino, and Kiba to find a rare beetle that can detect Sasuke's scent. This particular episode lands in the middle of the arc and finally gives Hinata Hyuga her due.
Hinata is one of the shyest anime characters to ever exist. Her own anxieties tend to get the better of her despite how much training she puts in. Here, Hinata perfects her very own new technique with the aid of her Byakugan and uses it to save Naruto, Kiba, and Shino. It's one of the few times she gets to show just how strong she really is.
4 The New Chunin Exams Arc
The longer name of this particular arc is "In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friend's Paths." It covers nearly 20 episodes, and it's hard to pick just one. Which episode is worthwhile depends on just which character the audience member is most interested in.
That's because this arc is set during the time skip between the two Naruto series. While Naruto is away training with Jiraiya, his friends take their Chūnin Exams again. The exams, however, are a joint effort by Suna and Konoha to lure out the Akatsuki. It allows all of Naruto's former classmates a chance to shine, brings back the Sand Siblings, and explores new dynamics as Sakura Haruno has to take her exams with Ino and Choji since they're down a teammate and she's down two.
3 Genjutsu Or Reality?
This episode is set in the middle of a filler arc focusing on Kurenai. The sensei of Team 8, Kurenai is mostly a background character - even when it's eventually revealed that she's pregnant with Asuma's child at the time of his death. This arc fleshes her out a bit, but she's still not a huge player in this episode. Instead, this episode messes with the heads of Naruto and his friends as well as the viewer.
When Naruto, Sakura, and Team 8 arrive in Konoha, they find their village destroyed. As it turns out, they're actually caught up in a massive genjutsu that envelopes the entire village. They have to find a way out to get to Kurenai. It's the first time the audience sees a genjutsu of this magnitude and it really sets the stage for the Infinite Tsukuyomi's effect in the final season.
2 A Clash Of Fate: You Can't Bring Me Down!
This episode brings the series full circle. It provides for some pretty lovely parallels to the beginning of Naruto's journey.
For one thing, it features the return of Mizuki. Mizuki is the first villain Naruto encounters at the start of the anime - and the person his first teacher Iruka saves him from. Naruto has the chance to return the favor as he and Iruka battle Mizuki. Naruto saves Iruka's life and the two are eventually able to stop him.
1 Kakashi's Anbu Arc
Much like the arc concerning the new round of exams, it's difficult to pick just one episode of this arc that stands out. It's entirely devoted to Kakashi's backstory, but it gives the audience so much more than that.
There are more explanations as to just how the Anbu work, there are hints at Yamato's backstory, and there are also more hints at Itachi and Orochimaru's pasts. This arc is dark and allows the audience to better understand the man Kakashi is before he becomes the teacher for Team 7 when the series begins, but it also fills in a lot of the gaps in the series' history.
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