A viewing guide for Naruto and Naruto Shippuden has been put together for viewers who want to follow Masashi Kishimoto's story without the non-canonical episodes, cutting the total running time from more than 290 hours to a little over 160 hours.
The guide traces the volume of filler back to the series' weekly broadcast era. While the anime was at its most popular, the production team at Studio Pierrot was moving through the story faster than Kishimoto was drawing pages for Weekly Shonen Jump. To avoid overtaking the manga or taking the show off the air, the studio chose to create secondary storylines. In the first Naruto series, more than 80 of its 220 episodes are filler, roughly 40% of the total. Naruto Shippuden accounts for 210 filler episodes out of 500, pushing non-canonical material above 40% of its runtime as well.
For the first series, the guide marks episodes 1-25 as essential: the introduction, the Land of Waves arc against Zabuza and Haku, and the start of the Chunin Exams. Episodes 27-96 cover the rest and conclusion of the Chunin Exams, the invasion of Konoha, the search for Tsunade and the introduction of the Rasengan. Episodes 98-100 deal with recovery from the injuries sustained in those battles, while episodes 107-135 make up the Sasuke Retrieval arc, including the fights against the Sound Four and the confrontation at the Valley of the End. Only the second half of episode 220 is recommended, covering Naruto's departure from the village with Jiraiya to begin his two-and-a-half-year training.
The guide lists episode 26, episode 97 and episodes 101-106 as skippable minor comic missions and standalone stories. The main block to omit is episodes 136-219, more than 80 consecutive chapters of side missions that it says add nothing to the main plot and can be left out entirely after episode 135.
For Naruto Shippuden, the recommended canon run begins with episodes 1-56, covering the Kazekage Rescue arc centred on Gaara and the reunion with Sasuke at Orochimaru's hideout. Episodes 72-89 cover the Akatsuki Immortals arc with Hidan and Kakuzu and Shikamaru Nara's revenge, while episodes 113-143 take in the search for Itachi, Jiraiya's fight against Pain and the culmination of the Uchiha brothers' story. Episodes 152-175 cover Pain's invasion of the Hidden Leaf, and episodes 197-222 the Five Kage Summit and the build-up to the global conflict.
Later canonical stretches include episodes 243-256, Naruto's training on Turtle Island with Killer Bee to master the Kyubi's power; episodes 261-278, 282, 283 and 296-302 for the opening phase of the Fourth Great Ninja War; episodes 321-346 and 362-375 for Madara Uchiha's return and the ninja alliance's combat; and episodes 378-388, 391-393, 414, 415, 418, 420, 421 and 424-426 for the resurrection of the Ten Tails and the heroes' transformation. Episodes 451-479 resolve the war, reveal Otsutsuki Kaguya and stage the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End, with episodes 484-500 adapting the official light novels, including Sasuke Shinden, Shikamaru Hiden and Naruto's wedding.
The Shippuden filler to skip is grouped into several blocks: episodes 57-71 and 90-112, covering the Twelve Guardian Ninja and the Three-Tails arcs; episodes 144-151 and 176-196, with the Six-Tails stories and the long stretch of memories about Konoha's past; episodes 223-242, 257-260 and 279-281 and 284-295, covering the sea voyage and the special Chikara arc; and episodes 303-320, 347-361, 376, 377, 389, 390, 394-413, 416, 417, 419, 422, 423, 427-450 and 480-483, which include the multiple dreams under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, alternative past arcs and commemorative episodes.
The guide also sets aside one point in the viewing order for a film. After episode 479 of Shippuden and before the final episodes 484-500, it recommends The Last: Naruto the Movie. Although the franchise has dozens of feature films, almost all are non-canonical side stories; the guide describes The Last as the only official exception written and supervised by Kishimoto, connecting events between the end of the manga and the epilogue and developing the relationship between Naruto and Hinata Hyuga in canonical form.
With the filler removed, the guide argues that the story regains the force, impact and pacing with which Kishimoto originally conceived it on paper.
Sources: Nintenderos.