There's no denying that the quality of the filler in Shippuden was far better than it was before the time skip. All of it had far more meat on its bones than the small four to six-episode samples given before, and that let each of them have some semblance of impact. Aside from a few arcs, most of them were genuinely pretty good as well.

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The biggest problem is the placement of these arcs often came at the most inopportune times, failing as bridges between the main arcs they were sandwiched between. That's the nature of the anime getting too close to the manga, however.

11 Twelve Guardian Ninja

This filler is exactly what you want out of them, expanding on what's there and filling in holes that may be present in the manga. In this case, they focused on both Naruto's wind training and elaborated on the Twelve Ninja Guardians of which Asuma was apart.

As there was more meat here than the filler pre-time skip, they get to focus on multiple characters and even manage to have a pretty cool fight scene at the end between Sora and Naruto. It's one of the better fillers in the series.

10 Three-Tail's Appearance

Yet another example of the anime helping fill in some space that was present in the manga. Originally, Deidara and Tobi were shown briefly battling and sealing the beast. The anime expanded on that, bringing in both Konoha and a team of Orochimaru loyal ninja, led by Guren.

It helped show that Orochimaru wasn't just going to sit on the sidelines. It's also the longest filler arc in the entire series, something that's felt in the slower parts.

9 Six-Tails Unleashed

Saiken, the Six-Tails, in its true form

The title is a little misleading as you'd think it dealt more with the capture and sealing of the tailed beast, but that is a very minor portion of the arc, only truly happening at the end. Instead, the arc focuses on the bond between Utakata (six-tails jinchūriki) and his pupil Hotaru.

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It's one of the few arcs where Konoha takes a bit of a back seat to the aforementioned pair, making the arc all the better because of it, getting you to feel bad once Pain comes to collect the tailed beast.

8 Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha

Kakashi and Iruka sitting on a bench

A proper title for this arc and you have to use that loosely, should have been Flashback: The Arc. That's all this essentially is, showing various flashbacks from different character's perspectives and letting you get a look at them in various time periods.

Some of these are pretty well done, like with Iruka when he remembers first meeting Naruto, and others are just swing and misses. By and large, it's just a way to show the way Naruto has changed the lives of people throughout the years.

7 Paradise Life On A Boat

Kakashi and Might Guy race in Naruto Shippuden.

As with the prior arc, this one is more a collection of short stories rather than a formal arc. Part of it focuses on Naruto's journey to the Land of Lightning to be contained there along with Killer B.

The other half is giving character development to the Konoha 11. As expected, this is met with some mixed results, some of the episodes feeling stupid, and others providing cool moments such as the one that focuses on Guy and Kakashi's rivalry.

6 Power

This arc is beloved for the sheer quality of the animation present within and because it celebrates 500 episodes. The story isn't awful either, following Team Kakashi as they go off in search of Kabuto and his reincarnated ninja after they massacred the Tonika Village.

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It gives Kabuto more of an influence beyond being the secondary villain to Obito in the war arc. It also produces an amazing fight scene between Naruto and his clone, that's stunning to watch.

5 The Shinobi That Lives In Shadows

Kakashi Hatake during his time as an ANBU Black Op member (Naruto Shippūden)

For anyone wanting more story on Kakashi, this is the arc for you as it focuses on his time within Anbu. While he's the main focus, other characters get great characterization in this as well.

Orochimaru gets to look like a true menace, even striking fear into Kakashi, and Danzo looks like the worst villain in the entire series. You even get a cameo of Itachi's time within the organization, showing some of his interactions with Kakashi.

4 In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friend's Path

An arc that doesn't have Naruto in it? Who knew that was possible! This arc happens in the middle of the climax of the war and rather than sloppily trying to tell a story in the present time, the anime goes back in time. The arc's set between Sasuke's defection and Naruto going off to train, showing the second chunin exams.

It helps give the lesser characters a lot of characterization and shine that they aren't often allotted, resulting in an arc that would be more enjoyable had it been placed better.

3 The Tale Of Naruto The Hero

Danzo organization Root

This arc takes place right before the final arc of the series, showing us a look at a tale Jiraiya wrote within Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream. For a giant what-if storyline, it's not bad as it lets them take some liberties in the clashes that Naruto and Sasuke have and lets Sasori have a major role as an antagonist, even getting to have Kage puppets.

As with some of these arcs, this suffers by the sheer placement of it and may have been better off as an OVA.

2 Itachi Shinden: Light And Darkness

shisui loses his eyes

As with Kakashi's arc, this one focuses solely on Itachi as we get to see his childhood and how he grew into the character that's so beloved in the franchise. The best parts are easily his interactions with Shisui, who is a character that deserves an OVA or light novel of his own as he had the makings of a fun character.

As expected for something with Itachi as the centerpiece, it's an enjoyable experience and one that felt less like filler than the prior arc.

1 Childhood

Hinata and Nenji

This is the last of the true fillers as the ones that follow are based on light novels, and as the title implies, it follows the childhoods of certain characters. There are only four episodes, and each is split into parts A and B, showing you one background before transitioning to the next.

By and large, it doesn't break any new ground but does provide some cute scenes, especially the episode that focuses on Hinata and Naruto. It gives a good view of why Hinata grew feelings for him.

NEXT: Naruto: 5 Things Sharingan Can Do That Byakugan Can't (& 5 Things Byakugan Can Do That Sharingan Can't)