<P> Naruto: Shippuden is an anime series adapted from Part II of Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, with exactly 500 episodes . It is set two and a half years after Part I in the Naruto universe, following the ninja teenager Naruto Uzumaki and his allies . The series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo . It began broadcasting on February 15, 2007 on TV Tokyo, and concluded on March 23, 2017 . </P> <P> On January 2, 2009, Viz Media and Crunchyroll provided eight uncut English subtitled Naruto: Shippuden episodes on the official Naruto website . Later on January 15, Viz began providing subtitled versions of the latest Naruto: Shippuden episodes a week after they first air in Japan, with a new episode being added to the Naruto website each subsequent Thursday . The English dub of Naruto: Shippuden made its US premiere on Disney XD on October 28, 2009 . On July 24, 2009, Viz Media announced that the series would be released on the iTunes Store . The first DVD release of the series in North America was released on September 29, 2009 . </P> <P> While Naruto: Shippuden was cancelled on Disney XD on November 5, 2011 after 98 episodes, DVD box sets generally containing thirteen dubbed episodes from episode 1 onward are being released quarterly in their uncut format . The English dub was streamed on Neon Alley from its launch in October 2012 and, beginning December 29, 2012 with episode 98, new episodes were released every week uncut until September 26, 2015 . Toonami began airing the series from the beginning on January 4, 2014 in an uncut format . </P>

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