When he first appeared in the Naruto anime, protagonist Naruto Uzumaki was just a punk kid with a dream, but by the end of the story, he was almost like a completely different person. Crucially, Naruto Uzumaki never lost his most essential traits, such as his stubborn determination and his humanistic idealism, but in many other ways, he glowed up and transformed himself for the better.
Naruto and his friends in the Hidden Leaf Village all changed in inspiring and memorable ways, growing up to become kinder, stronger, and more confident as shinobi and as people. That helped Naruto and the others set a new standard for character arcs in shonen, gaining far more than just new weapons or new jutsu during their adventures. In ten particular ways, Naruto Uzumaki changed on both the inside and outside, becoming a whole new man by the time the anime saga concluded.
10 Naruto Became Widely Respected and Admired
Naruto Uzumaki Went From Zero to Hero
In his early years, Naruto was widely feared and hated as a jinchuriki, meaning the entire Hidden Leaf Village mistreated him as a monster and outcast. No one took Naruto seriously or even gave him a chance aside from Iruka, so Naruto developed a strong longing for respect and admiration. He aimed to become Hokage for that very reason.
Over time, Naruto Uzumaki went from zero to hero, repeatedly saving his friends' lives or the entire Leaf Village with his battlefield prowess. He earned some respect after defeating Neji Hyuga in the Chunin Exam story arc, then became a hero of legend after he defeated the Six Paths of Pain. By Shippuden's end, no Leaf ninja was more famous and admired than Naruto Uzumaki.
9 Naruto Became an Advocate For World Peace
Naruto Made Jiraiya's Idealistic Dream a Reality
In the early days of the Naruto anime, Naruto Uzumaki and his friends didn't put much thought into the world's affairs, such as international politics or idealism. Naruto and the others focused more on their missions and training with jutsu, but partway through Naruto Shippuden, the protagonist decided to think about the entire world and not just his own career.
By then, Naruto had learned about Jiraiya's idealistic dream of world peace, a dream that Jiraiya had once tried to share with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. That put Naruto on a collision course with Pain, who had grown cynical about that topic and aimed to teach the world a brutal lesson about the cycle of hatred that prevented world peace. Naruto clung to Jiraiya's dream of world peace, and that helped him defeat Pain on multiple levels.
8 Naruto Became Less Self-Absorbed
Naruto Began Caring About Other People
Naruto was a self-absorbed kid when the Naruto anime started, mostly because he was determined to overcome the village's prejudice against him and become someone worthy of respect. Naruto was benignly self-centered at the time — shonen fans wouldn't call him an antihero for mostly caring about himself at the time.
Naruto Uzumaki learned over time that caring about other people was even more important, and that was when Naruto was at his best. He started using his mental scars and rough past not as a reason to fixate on himself, but as a way to empathize with other people going through a hard time. That helped Naruto use his famous "talk jutsu" against Gaara during Operation Konoha Crush, for example.
7 Naruto Learned How to Use Sage Mode
Naruto Struggled to Master Sage Mode Early On
Over time, Naruto Uzumaki learned to use a stunning variety of new techniques and jutsu, but that wasn't just to make him a stronger fighter and provide cool fight scenes. Naruto's new jutsu also involved personal growth and challenges, with Sage Mode being a notable example from Naruto Shippuden.
Sage Mode was a unique power with equally unique training, and Naruto struggled at first to remain still enough to absorb nature energy for Sage Mode. Normally, Naruto often has an energetic ESTP attitude like Luffy from One Piece despite being an ENFP at heart, so using meditation, stillness, and patience to train isn't easy for either of them. But Naruto did learn Sage Mode, giving him a powerful new combat mode and a new perspective on nature and stillness.
6 Naruto Learned New Jutsu Like the Rasengan and Its Variants
Naruto Was an Innovator When it Came to Jutsu
Like many shonen action heroes, Naruto Uzumaki trained many times to learn new techniques or improve his current move set. That's essential for future fight scenes and scaling up the power levels, but it's also personal for people like Naruto. Learning new jutsu was when Naruto shone as an innovator.
Naruto Uzumaki is a creative, hands-on person who works with whatever he's got, and he definitely learned how to learn over time in the Naruto anime. Inventing the Sexy Jutsu in the ninja academy was one thing, but inventing new Rasengan variants and Shadow Clone tactics was when Naruto was at his best, and he got better at it over time.
5 Naruto Forged a Stronger Bond With Kurama
Naruto Learned to Embrace The Demon Within
Naruto Uzumaki embodies the half-other anime trope, being born with Kurama the nine-tailed fox inside him. In his youth, Naruto didn't fully understand his jinchuriki nature and certainly hadn't tamed his vast inner power, but eventually, he learned to use and even befriend Kurama as a partner, not a curse.
Like Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Naruto made the most of his inner monster and started treating it like an equal, and those characters' half-other monsters returned the favor. That meant that by Shippuden's end, Kurama was more blessing than curse, and no one hated or feared Naruto as Kurama's living vessel, either. In fact, the final manga chapter showed Kurama dozing in Naruto's inner world, with both Kurama and Naruto at peace with one another.
4 Naruto Had More Friends Than Ever
Naruto's Allies Grew Even Further
Naruto Uzumaki didn't have any real friends growing up, not even at the ninja academy. By the time Naruto graduated, he met and befriended Konohamaru, but he still didn't have very many real friends to call his own. The other members of the Konoha 12/11 didn't take him that seriously either, but they changed their minds later.
By the end of Naruto Shippuden, Naruto Uzumaki had plenty of friends, which made his social life stronger and gave him many more allies to call upon anytime there was trouble. Naruto didn't often invoke the famed power of friendship compared to One Piece or Fairy Tail characters, but he was definitely happier with more friends around, at least.
3 Naruto's Rivalry With Sasuke Became Healthier, Then Worse, Then Ended
Naruto and Sasuke Evolved Together
Naruto's and Sasuke's rivalry is one of the most iconic shonen-style rivalries out there, and it went through multiple phases over time. When the Naruto anime started, Sasuke had contempt for Naruto, and Naruto disliked him in return. Then they became teammates and rivals, enjoying a healthy rivalry until they became enemies.
When the Narutoo Shippuden anime concluded, Naruto and Sasuke had become friends once again, and they finally set aside their differences in a new era of peace. They were both long overdue to forgive one another and realize that their repeated clashes were just making them more miserable as rivals turned enemies.
2 Naruto Stopped Being Such an Attention-Seeker
Naruto Kept His Inner Child Alive
Due to his pariah status and lack of friendships and respect, Naruto Uzumaki was determined for people to pay attention to him in some way. His long-term solution was to become Hokage, and his short-term solution, or rather method, was a series of pranks. When Naruto first appeared, he was halfway through painting all over the Hokage monument just to get some attention.
Naruto soon toned that down as he joined Team 7 and underwent new missions, making him too busy for pranks. Still, he wasn't afraid to use his Sexy Jutsu to impress people or shock them, and Konohamaru followed his example. Later on, after he became a great hero, Naruto had no more need for pranks aside from tactical use of the Sexy Jutsu to confuse his enemies in battle, like when he fought Kaguya Otsutsuki.
1 Naruto Found Love
Naruto and Hinata Found Each Other
When Naruto was growing up, he didn't know love from anyone. He had no parents or family members to love him, nor any foster parents. For the time being, Naruto managed to make do without love, but over time, that changed for the better. Hinata Hyuga was infatuated with him, and as of the Pain arc, Hinata's feelings had blossomed into full-blown love.
After a time, Naruto returned those amorous feelings, which helped drive the plot of The Last: Naruto the Movie. By the end of Naruto Shippuden, Naruto and Hinata were married, giving Naruto a chance to build the kind of family he never had for himself growing up.
