‘Naruto’ is one of the biggest franchises in the anime industry. With graphic novels, movies, video games, live shows, and sequels, ‘Naruto’s’ popularity is only increasing sporadically. Its protagonist character is as significant as it was when the character first debuted in the 1990s. In today’s world, you could easily buy many transformative productions of the characters. Due to its high popularity, Netflix has recently released ‘Naruto: Shippuden’, the sequel to Naruto.
The titular character debuted as a preteen with no family. Two decades later, he’s trained his spiritual successor and witnessed his own son become a hero. Despite being the protagonist of a massive franchise, there’s still plenty for fans to learn about him or things they may have missed in his long history. Here are the top 10 things you did not know about Naruto Uzumaki.
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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Naruto Uzumaki
1) Birthday Of Naruto
Naruto’s birthday is on October 10th. He also shares this birthday with two other characters: Menma Uzumaki and Menma Namikaze. Interestingly enough to fans, all three characters looked alike. This is because, Menma comes from an alternate universe version of Konohagakure, making him his world’s version of Naruto. Whilst Namikaze came from Tenten’s Infinite Tsukuyomi dream and is also descended from the Uzumaki clan.
2) Naruto And The Significance Of His Name
Naruto’s name is based on the food narutomaki. It is a topping for ramen that has a pink or red spiral design in the middle. Narutomaki’s spiral-shaped patterns are supposed to represent the Naruto whirlpools found in the Strait. Coincidentally, ramen is also one of Naruto’s favorite foods. He often went to Ichiraku Ramen, where he became a loyal customer and was well-treated by the people working there. Unlike many others in the village, the Ichiraku Ramen owners did not treat Naruto poorly during his youth.
3) Sexy Jutsu
If you are a fan of the show, you would have probably known about this “Sexy Jutsu Technique”. The protagonist often uses this to help Jiraya complete his erotica series and also uses it as a weapon against some perverts. With this technique, he can transform into a beautiful woman and play tricks on various men. However, this trick has no effect on women whatsoever. This forced Naruto to develop the “Sexy: Boy On Boy Technique” to specifically appeal to women and trick them.
4) Konoha’s Orange Hokage Is A Reference To Naruto’s Parents
Once, Uzumaki became the Hokage, he referenced himself as the ‘Orange Hokage’. Orange was a reference to his parents. Kushina, and the Uzumaki Clan, were known for their red hair. Whilst, Minato had blood hair. Obviously, red and yellow when mixed make orange. So, now you know why he is called the Orange Hokage. It is definitely not because of his obsession for orange clothing.
5) He Is Not Alone
Growing up, Uzumaki was on his own. His parents sacrificed themselves to save him as an infant, and he seemingly had no family to speak of. We were led to believe that there were no more members of the clan alive, however, it is not entirely true. Uzumaki and Lady Tsunade, after all, were distantly related as a result of their two clans intermarrying early in the founding of Konohagakure. Other characters could have been more direct relatives if fans had learned more about them. Both Karin and Nagato were descendants of the Uzumaki Clan.
6) Naruto Could Turn Into A Fox Originally
Fans of the anime series know that the title character has the power of the nine-tailed fox Kurama inside of him. That wasn’t the original manga’s plan. Instead, Masashi Kishimoto wanted to write a story where the titular character was studying to be a chef (Can you imagine this? Naruto as a chef? He would have destroyed the whole ramen shop in an instant. No offense!). That story didn’t make it to print, but Kishimoto did keep the character name for a one-shot he created for ‘Shonen Jump‘. The idea was of a young boy named Naruto who could transform into a giant fox, though his father would be the fox that rampaged and destroyed a village.
7) He Met His Parents Because Of The Creator’s Children
In an issue of ‘Shonen Jump‘, Kishimoto revealed a bit of his writing process for ‘Naruto‘. He intended for Uzumaki to remain isolated due to never knowing his parents, but once he became a father, his views changed. Kishimoto’s relationship with his own children made him want Naruto to have a relationship with his parents as well. He decided to find ways to introduce Naruto to Minato and Kushina. In some cases, that involved time travel. Other storylines used remnants of their chakra to allow Naruto’s parents to speak with him.
8) His Blood Type
In Japan, there is a theory that blood type can indicate personality traits. That’s why the ‘Naruto’ data books include the blood types of characters as well. Accordingly, Naruto’s blood type is B. Those with Type B can be irresponsible, impatient, and selfish. They can also be passionate, creative, and friendly. The former traits go hand-in-hand with Naruto’s immaturity early in the series, while the latter is exemplified during his many heroics.
9) Naruto Gave Up His Goggles
Do you still remember in the initial stages when Naruto would always wear goggles on the top of his head? Well, we all know that did not last long. Once he achieved the genin status, he swapped his goggles for a Konohagakure headband. The obvious reason is that he wanted to show off his new status. However, Kishimoto found drawing the goggles too time-consuming in his manga pages, hence he saved time by eliminating them.
10) The Rivalry
Apparently, Kishimoto always knew that ‘Naruto’ would reach its real climax when Sasuke accepted Naruto as his equal and the two battled. Though he knew that’s what he wanted, Kishimoto admitted in interviews that he was never quite sure how he would get there. He completed the process “little by little” until deciding if the two would battle as enemies – or as friends. Eventually, they even considered themselves brothers.
