Naruto Musasabi

Within the novel, Naruto's looks are largely left for readers to picture on their own. What the text does establish is that he typically appears in the standard jonin uniform throughout the story.

Drive and dedication run through Naruto, a good-natured and hard-working figure whose temperament simply will not let him quit. His teammate Tsuyu, however, is less charitable, dismissing him as dim and foolish whenever his antics get the better of him.

Having reached jonin rank and earned recognition as one of The Three Ninja of Shuku, Naruto stands as a strong and accomplished shinobi. He works comfortably across ninjutsu, taijutsu, and senjutsu, and his nature transformations cover wind, lightning, and yang. His trademark moves include the Gale Supreme Slash, which whips up a concentrated whirlwind, and the Comet Sphere, an enormous orb of combined wind and lightning. He can also summon giant mice into battle to bolster his senjutsu, three of them named Tora, Miki, and Mini.

Naruto never knew his father, who fell in the First Shinobi World War, but stories from the Second Kokage about the man inspired him to model himself after a shinobi defined as one who endures. He left the Shuku Academy at six and joined Team Shu under Shu, serving beside Tsuyu and Renge Momoashi. His almost instant infatuation with Tsuyu went unreturned, to his sorrow, and a fierce rivalry with Renge took root during their training. Through the Second Shinobi World War the whole team climbed to jonin, and after holding their ground against the rival leader Maei Yagyu they were dubbed The Three Ninja of Shuku. Naruto later trained under Grand Master Futenso, the Rat Sage, and mastered senjutsu and Sage Mode.

The main plot follows Renge's defection from Shuku into the ranks of the missing-nin, which unfolds just after Ton is destroyed and sends Naruto and Tsuyu after him. Once Renge seizes Kon Village and takes the title of Kaosu, a Kon kunoichi named Shima joins Naruto's effort to stop him. Much of the character openly echoes Jiraiya, a resemblance Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki both noticed, while the deeper inspiration traces to Jiraiya's student Nagato, the very figure honored in the novel's dedication. His summons Miki and Mini nod to Jiraiya's own toads Fukusaku and Shima and to Disney's Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and the surname Musasabi refers to the Japanese giant flying squirrel.