Naruto, Volume 40 »

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.

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). The Ultimate Art It's Deidara vs. Sasuke! Is even Deidara's Ultimate Art no match for the all-powerful new Sasuke? Plus, deep inside the Land of Rain lies a secret of the Akatsuki that sheds doubt on the mysterious organization's true intentions as well as their bizarre leader, Pain.