Naruto, Vol. 39

Naruto is a ninja-in-training with a need for attention, a knack for mischief and, sealed within him, a strange, formidable power. His antics amuse his instructor Kakashi and irritate his teammates, intense Sasuke and witty Sakura, but Naruto is serious about becoming the greatest ninja in the village of Konohagakure!Reads R to L (Japanese Style).On the MoveIt's shades of the influence of Orochimaru when Sasuke names his new ninja cell Team Serpent. While Naruto and the others try to keep tabs on Sasuke, their long-lost pal ends up in fierce battle with an old enemy. The outcome could bring the ninja world as Naruto knows it to an end faster than he ever imagined!

Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his manga Karakuri ("Mechanism"). Kishimoto decided to base his next story on traditional Japanese culture. His first version of Naruto, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in Japan.